Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a process and a device designed to scramble, through a transparent wrapping, various data, particularly when the data are symbolized by a bar code.
The use of bar codes which are automatically read by a magnetic reading head is becoming more and more popular. It is, thus, possible to automatically read the number of a check, the address on a piece of mail or the price of an object. In department stores in particular, it is customary to affix on the items offered for sale a bar coded tag having various indications, including the price. As the customer gives the item to the cashier, the latter slides the reading head in front of the tag whose data is automatically stored in a computer designed to handle accounting as well as inventory control operations in general.
A problem arises, however, in the case where several unitary items are grouped in a single lot that the customer purchases as a whole. Indeed, if several unitary products, each bearing its individual tag, are grouped under a single wrap, often a soft, transparent plastic bag, the price of the lot is marked on a collective tag affixed to the wrapping bag. Therefore, as the customer brings his purchase to the cashier, there is a chance that the price will be misread. Indeed, if the cashier inadvertently sweeps the reading head over one of the individual tags of the unit products instead of the coded tag bearing the price of the lot, the customer will only be requested to pay the unit price, causing a loss to the store.